Methods and systems for an intelligent beverage mixing appliance

ABSTRACT

Provided herein are methods and systems for a networked soda reconstruction appliance, adapted for home or office use, that includes intelligent sub-systems for handling various beverage components, which can be mixed under intelligent control, including local control and control by a remote host system, which may help manage the appliance itself as well as the replenishment supply chains involved in delivering appropriate beverage components to the appliance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/195,755 filed on Jul. 22, 2015 and U.S. Provisional Application No.62/195,751 filed on Jul. 22, 2015, where the entire content of each ishereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to the field of beverage delivery systems, andmore particularly to an intelligent beverage mixing and deliveryappliance.

BACKGROUND

Technologies have been developed for mixing and delivering sodaingredients, such as systems used in manufacturing and bottlingfacilities of major soda companies, and systems used in commercialrestaurants. Some home mixing systems also exist. However, manychallenges continue to exist for beverage companies, beverage consumers,and other parties who are involved in supplying and deliveringbeverages, and related components in the beverage market. In particular,there are challenges in delivering beverages that are of high (e.g.,“trademark”-worthy) quality, that satisfy individualized consumer tastepreferences, that are delivered at the correct temperature, with thecorrect level of carbonation (or without carbonation), and with thecorrect ratios of components, that can be stored well while maintainingquality, that are available when needed, and that can be deliveredsafely and efficiently to consumers, not only in restaurants, but inother environments where consumption occurs at lower rates, such as inhomes and offices.

SUMMARY

Provided herein are methods and systems for a soda mixing appliance, insome cases referred to as a beverage reconstruction appliance, adaptedfor home or office use, that includes intelligent sub-systems forhandling various beverage components, which can be mixed underintelligent control, including local control and in some embodimentsprovided with networking capabilities for control by a remote hostsystem, which may help manage the appliance itself as well as thereplenishment supply chains involved in delivering appropriate beveragecomponents to the appliance. Among other benefits, the methods andsystems accordingly may provide an appliance that allows providers todeliver beverages that are of very high quality, that allowuser-customization and otherwise satisfy individualized consumer tastepreferences, that deliver beverages at the correct temperature, thatstore ingredients reliably and efficiently and in a way that ensuresthey are available when needed, that achieves high levels of carbonationfor appropriate beverages, and that delivers beverages and theircomponents safely and efficiently. While many of the embodimentsdisclosed herein involve carbonated beverages, such as soda, otherbeverages such as teas, juices, and the like can be provided, with orwithout carbonation.

A networked appliance for mixing and delivery of a carbonated beverageto a user may include a communications facility for connecting theappliance to a remote host system, a sweetener cooling system forcontaining at least one type of liquid form sweetener, a gas handlingsystem for accepting CO2 cartridges, a flavor handling system, and awater system, where at least one of the sweetener cooling system, thegas handling system, the flavor handling system, and the water systemincludes at least one sensor adapted to deliver sensed information viathe communications facility to the remote host.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Thegas handling system may be adapted to accept CO2 cartridges that aresized below one hundred grams. At least one sensor may sense a remaininglevel of at least one of a sweetener, a flavor, and a gas. At least onesensor may sense a low pressure condition of gas of a cartridge of a gashandling system. At least one sensor may sense a low liquid condition ofa flavor unit of the flavoring system. At least one sensor may sense anindicator of tampering. At least one sensor may sense an indicator ofthe absence of tampering. At least one sensor may sense a liquid levelin at least one of the sweetener cooling system and the flavor handlingsystem. The appliance may further include disposing the flavor handlingsystem in proximity to the cooling system to facilitate cooling of theflavoring. The appliance may further include an ice making system. Theappliance may further include a user interface by which a user mayspecify at least one of a desired flavor, a desired level of sweetness,a desired temperature, and a desired type of sweetener. The appliancemay further include a mixing system for mixing sweetener, flavor, gas,and water to produce a beverage. The mixing system may use at least onesensor to sense at least one of a level, a flow, a pressure, and atemperature of at least one ingredient. The appliance is adapted to useuser-supplied ice to pre-chill at least one of water, syrup, andsweetener and subsequently adds the ice to a beverage. The flavoringsystem may include at least one of a pod and a cartridge system. Theflavoring system may include a volumetric syrup delivery system that isnot dependent on viscosity. The appliance may be adapted to handlemultiple serving flavoring units or single serving flavoring units. Theappliance may generate an ice bank to provide capacitive coolingcapability for at least one of a flavoring, a syrup, and water for abeverage. The ice bank may be generated using at least one of athermoelectric cooling facility and a vapor compression coolingfacility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the devices,systems, and methods described herein will be apparent from thefollowing description of particular embodiments thereof, as illustratedin the accompanying drawings. The drawings are not necessarily to scale,emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of thedevices, systems, and methods described herein. The accompanying figureswhere like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similarelements throughout the separate views and which together with thedetailed description below are incorporated in and form part of thespecification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and toexplain various principles and advantages all in accordance with thesystems and methods disclosed herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of various components of a beveragemixing appliance, including a networked appliance, a remote host formanaging the appliance and certain external systems with which theappliance and the remote host may interact.

FIG. 2 provides a block diagram of an arrangement for housingingredients in which an ice crushing system is used to pre-chill waterbefore carbonating a beverage.

FIG. 3 provides a block diagram for a system in which an ice sub-systemis used as a pre-chiller for water and syrup.

FIG. 4 provides a block diagram of a system in which dual kanbans areused to house sweeteners.

FIG. 5 provides a block diagram of a system in which ice is crushedbefore integrating with non-carbonated water, and carbonation is addedto form a carbonated slurry.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of an arrangement of components of abeverage mixing appliance.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of use of a disc system under force toassist in evacuating syrup from a flexible container.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a system in which a cold bowl with aeutectic cooling fluid is used to provide cooling.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a system in which a cold tube with aeutectic cooling fluid is used to provide cooling.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures areillustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily beendrawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements inthe figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help toimprove understanding of embodiments of the systems and methodsdisclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying figures, in which preferred embodimentsare shown. The foregoing may, however, be embodied in many differentforms and should not be construed as limited to the illustratedembodiments set forth herein.

All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety. References to items in the singular should be understoodto include items in the plural, and vice versa, unless explicitly statedotherwise or clear from the text. Grammatical conjunctions are intendedto express any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations ofconjoined clauses, sentences, words, and the like, unless otherwisestated or clear from the context. Thus, the term “or” should generallybe understood to mean “and/or” and so forth.

Recitation of ranges of values herein are not intended to be limiting,referring instead individually to any and all values falling within therange, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value withinsuch a range is incorporated into the specification as if it wereindividually recited herein. The words “about,” “approximately,” or thelike, when accompanying a numerical value, are to be construed asindicating a deviation as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skillin the art to operate satisfactorily for an intended purpose. Ranges ofvalues and/or numeric values are provided herein as examples only, anddo not constitute a limitation on the scope of the describedembodiments. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language(“e.g.,” “such as,” or the like) provided herein, is intended merely tobetter illuminate the embodiments and does not pose a limitation on thescope of the embodiments. No language in the specification should beconstrued as indicating any unclaimed element as essential to thepractice of the embodiments.

In the following description, it is understood that terms such as“first,” “second,” “top,” “bottom,” “up,” “down,” and the like, arewords of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms.

Before describing in detail embodiments that are in accordance with thesystems and methods disclosed herein, it should be observed thatembodiments include combinations of method steps and/or systemcomponents. Accordingly, the system components and method steps havebeen represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in thedrawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent tounderstanding the embodiments of the systems and methods disclosedherein so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will bereadily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having thebenefit of the description herein.

In the beverage industry, the transportation of beverages has generallysettled at an irrational equilibrium, both economically andenvironmentally. Typical carbonated soft drinks are about 83% water,while juices are about 80-90% water. The distribution of these productsin the art may be inefficient, e.g.: packaging for the finished beveragevs. just the concentrate; shipping costs associated with the weight andvolume of the finished beverage; and the impact to the consumer oftransporting and carrying finished beverages.

Shipping concentrated product may thus involve leaving the water outduring packaging and adding at the point of serving. However, thisgenerally has not happened in the art because of several reasons. Forexample, beverage companies (BevCos) should control their brandintegrity, where the simplest solution is to bottle the finishedproduct, virtually guaranteeing the integrity of the beverage every time(within the limitations of current packaging solutions). Also, forexample, the food service dispensed solutions have generally beenineffective margin channels for BevCos. This may be due to threereasons: (1) the quality of dispensed carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) notliving up to that of a chilled can or bottle, so the consumerexpectation is less brand specific; (2) the consumer being effectivelyforced to a single brand if they visit a given restaurant, giving thecustomer (the restaurant) more power; (3) national restaurant chainshaving great purchasing power to negotiate deals; and (4) the BevCos,given the perceived lower quality of syrup, may have allowed thecustomers to commoditize the product, because they have competed onprice for so long that they have effectively driven down margins toundesirable levels. Because of this last point, BevCos may beconditioned to avoid dispensed solutions at all cost as the margins areoften single digits or worse. Also, for example, CSDs have been on thedecline and taking reengineering steps in a low margin channel has notbeen highly valued.

There are generally four attributes to make a trademark quality CSD: lowtemperature, high carbonation, proper water to syrup ratio control, andhigh quality water. The BevCos are generally militant about satisfyingthese parameters in part because the difficulty in achieving themcreates a barrier to competition. Low temperature may be a challenge forcarbonated drinks, as CO₂ absorption into water increases as temperaturedecreases. Empirically, a way to achieve trademark quality carbonationis to use water that is less than 40 degrees F., where the colder thewater the better. Thus, a challenge for a home beverage dispenser thatpours a trademark quality CSD is how to chill water below 40 degrees F.,hold the ratio to 5:1, and provide sufficient carbonation, all at acompelling price point.

An implementation described herein may provide a trademark quality CSDby an appliance suitable for a kitchen counter—having a small footprint,low noise, and not taking significant time to cool down and to recover,etc. Thus, an implementation utilizes water that is less than 40 degreesF., whereby it can absorb enough CO₂ to hit a carbonation specification.

An implementation described herein may also provide utilizes iceprovided from a separate vapor compression cooling system as both acooling mechanism and an ingredient, e.g., in a crushed format. Thismeets the preference of a majority of consumers.

An implementation may use ice as a low cost cooling mechanism, as wellas an ingredient for the beverage. Using the implementation, a user mayutilize three ingredients in preparing the beverage: a pod or pouchincluding syrup, tap water, and ice from an adjacent ice machine.Additionally the implementation may use a CO₂ canister to add the CO₂ tothe cold water. The user may add the three ingredients listed above intochambers, where the processing steps may be as follows:

A machine as described herein may measure the temperature of the waterand ensure a sufficient volume of ice and water. A fixed amount of icemay then be crushed or shaved and dropped into a mix chamber. Given themeasured temperature of the water, an appropriate amount of water may bedropped into the mix chamber. The higher the temperature of the water,the more ice that should melt in order to drive the temperature of thewater down. The equation McΔT may be used to calculate the amount ofmeltage that will be generated once the crushed ice and water are mixed.The CO₂ may then be forcibly introduced into the water either in the mixchamber or prior to entering the mix chamber. Once sufficient time haspassed to achieve the desired temperature, the ice and now carbonatedwater mixture may be released to the nozzle, at substantially the sametime the syrup is evacuated from the pod/pouch. The ice in the mixturemay help to mix the water and syrup, minimizing ratio stratification.Note that the dwell time of the ice and water may be calculated by theamount of heat transfer required, meaning that the colder the inputwater the quicker the entire process will take. Also the amount ofresidual ice in the drink may vary depending on the input watertemperature.

Another implementation may include an evacuation mechanism of thepod/pouch. The viscosity of syrup can generally vary from very thin(diet sodas) to very thick. Viscosity may increase as temperaturedecreases; for a sugared soda, the viscosity typically doubles when thesyrup temperature goes from 70 to 40 degrees F. Regulating performancebased on varied brands and temperatures can be quite expensive anddifficult, so a volumetric solution (one that is ambivalent toviscosity) may be preferred. This is described below, e.g., withreference to FIG. 7.

Another feature if an implementation may be applicable to both post mixcarbonated soft drinks as well as reconstituted cold drinks which addwater, for instance juice from concentrate, iced liquid coffee, frappesand smoothies. One of the systems described herein is essentially aclosed system. By having an understanding of the amount of ice, anunderstanding of the quantity of water, and having sensed the incomingtemperature of the water, it may be possible to understand at a point intime the amount of ice melted during the process. With this knowledge,the amount of water and/or syrup can be metered to adjust for themeltage quantity and maintain the 5:1 ratio spec.

The amount of ice to achieve a given temperature is governed by theequation Q=McΔT, where ΔT signifies the change in temperature required,m is mass, c is specific heat (˜1 calorie/gram for water), and Q equalsheat energy. Time may also be a parameter as the drink will likely bedispensed prior to the system achieving complete temperatureequilibrium. The processing steps may be as follows:

The amount of syrup in the pod or pouch may be fixed, e.g. 2 oz. for a12 oz. finished beverage. A user may add a relatively fixed quantity ofice into the ice chamber. The verification of quantity can be achievedby a strain gauge, a vision sensor, a float switch tied to a finger onthe ice reservoir cover, or perhaps the variance in ice placed will besmall enough that sensing is not required. Water may be added to thewater reservoir. The water temperature in the water reservoir may bemeasured via a temperature sensor (or otherwise estimated). An on-boardalgorithm may calculate the amount of water needed so that the finishedbeverage will have 5 parts (input water plus ice melt water): 1 partsyrup. The ice may be added to the mix chamber, likely after movingthrough an ice crusher (note the ice does not have to be crushed, butcube ice will take longer to chill the water). The proper amount ofreservoir water may be added to the mix chamber. The ice (likelycrushed) may be allowed to cool the water in the mix chamber for apredetermined time, or to achieve a predetermined temperature (or somecombination of time and temperature). A temp sensor in the mix chambermay be used. The time to dispense will likely be variable depending onthe input water temperature. In the event that the input watertemperature is too high, it is possible that the dispenser could notallow a dispense action at all. In embodiments, gaseous CO₂ may be addedto the mix chamber once the proper temperature has been achieved. Thethen carbonated mixture of water (both reservoir and melt) and ice maybe poured into the glass concurrent to the evacuation of the pod. Thissystem may work equally well with an uncarbonated drink, be itconcentrated juice, liquid ice coffee, smoothies, frappes, and the like.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of major components of a networkedbeverage mixing, or reconstruction, appliance (referred to as the“appliance” interchangeably without limitation throughout thisdisclosure) 102, a remote appliance management host system(interchangeably referred to as a “host” without limitation throughoutthis disclosure) 104 for managing the appliance 102 and certain externalsystems 108 with which the appliance 102 and the remote host mayinteract 104. In certain optional embodiments, networking capabilitiesmay be omitted and the appliance may operate autonomously, orsemi-autonomously using local intelligence, such as processor, memory,and one or more applications adapted to operate one or more of thecomponents locally at the appliance 102.

The beverage mixing appliance 102 may include or may be coupledoperatively with several systems and sub-systems such as thoseillustrated in FIG. 1, optionally including without limitation a watersystem 110 (optionally including water quality measurement andfiltering), a gas system 112, a sweetener system 114, a flavoring system(which may be a pod-based, cartridge based, or other similar orflavoring pod and/or cartridge system 118 having various pod andcartridge designs (including multiple serve and single serve designs)that are collectively referred to herein, except where context indicatesotherwise, as “pods”), a mechanism or system for evacuating pod syrupfrom a pod or otherwise delivering desired amounts and types of syrup, amixing system 120, which may include a mechanism for accomplishing ratiocontrol among ingredients, including syrup ratio control, a carbonationsystem, a cooling system 208, one or more data collection systems (e.g.,sensors), a beverage delivery system 122 (which may include an outputwater system, such as a disk-based system, a syringe, a nozzle(including a smart nozzle), or the like), various ingredient storagesystems (e.g., Kanban systems), a waste disposal system 218 (including awaste water disposal system) and the like. Methods and systems disclosedherein may include ones related to control system logic for local,remote (including networked), and autonomous control. Control systemsmay rely on data collection systems (e.g., sensors) for control ofsub-systems, optimization of particular systems, and autonomy, such asautomatic reaction to changing parameters, such as temperature changes.

Methods and systems disclosed herein may also include ones for arranging(e.g., “deconstructing”) for the appropriate storage and delivery ofingredients in forms that enable efficient storage, effective mixing,and the like, such as separating out syrup, sweeteners, water,carbonation ingredients, and the like into desired form factors forefficient transportation, storage, mixing, and the like.

Methods and systems disclosed herein, including ones for mixing andratio control, may allow drink customization as may be desired,optionally under remote, local, user, or autonomous control. Customizedbeverages may be of “trademark” quality (e.g., meeting or exceeding thestandards and quality of a trademarked beverage from a particularcompany, such as trademarked beverages seen commonly in the beveragemarketplace), or may allow variants, such as choice of sweetener, amountof sweetener, and the like. Customized beverages may control levels ofcarbonation from non-carbonated to mildly carbonated (sparkling) tofully carbonated.

The water system 110 may receive water from an external water supplyunit 124 for use in the beverage production. In one example, thesupplied water may not be suitable for drinking or for high qualitybeverage purposes. An intelligent filter 128 may be coupled to orincluded within the water system 110 so as to intelligently filter thesupplied water to make it suitable for use for beverage preparation inthe next stages. For example, the intelligent filter 128 may beprogrammed for a set of computer executable instructions tointelligently monitor characteristics of the supplied water and regulatevarious compositions and characteristics according to defined guidelinesthat may be stored in a database coupled to the intelligent filter 128or may be stored in the host system 104 at a remote location. Theintelligent filter 128 may provide for shut off of flow of any waterthat includes any undesirable minerals, harmful bacteria, unwanteddeposits, or other components that may impact the quality or taste ofthe beverage, or that may impact health. The filter 128 may also monitorits own effectiveness, such as measuring over time whether the outputfrom the filter 128 continues to pure, measuring whether the flow fromthe filter 128 remains adequate (or whether it is clogged), and thelike. The filter 128 may then report on its own status, such as whetherit, or an element of it, should be replaced.

In embodiments, the water system 110 may include facilities for supplyof cold and/or warm water separately for requirements of different typesof beverages. For example, the water supply 124 may include cold watersupply inlets and hot water supply inlets. The water supply 124 may beconnected with a hot water tank, a cold water tank, a heating element, arefrigeration unit, a facility to cool the beverage that does notrequire a direct refrigeration system, or any combination of the above,and the like. The water system 110 may include hot water faucets as wellas cold water faucets for receiving water for beverage preparation fordirect dispensing. Various other electronic and electric controls suchas intelligent sensors 130 may be provided for regulating operations ofvarious components of the water system 110.

The gas system 112 may include one or more Kanban systems 132, which inembodiments are dual Kanban containers, with two distinct containerscomprising parts of the dual Kanban system 132. In other embodiments, asingle reservoir may be provided with sensors for determining the amountof gas remaining in a container, such as a pressure sensor, a straingauge, or the like. Other embodiments may have three or more containersin the multiple Kanban system 132. The containers of the gas system 112may include or may be coupled operatively with a source of carbondioxide (CO2), which may be a tank, or in embodiments may be one or moregas cartridges or similar containers, such as CO2 cartridges 134 asillustrated in FIG.1. One of ordinary skill will recognize that othergases may also or instead be utilized. The gas cartridges such as CO2cartridges 134 may supply pressurized CO2 and/or other gases forpreparing beverages, where the pressurized gas may be used as a beverageingredient in some beverages, such as carbonated sodas. The Kanbansystem 132 may have several chambers connected to several differentcartridges 134. For example, a dual Kanban may contain or be connectedto two chambers or containers or cartridges. The gas system 112 mayswitch between the different chambers or containers 132 to selectablyuse different gases contained in the different chambers 132 or toselectably use the same or different gases at different physicalcharacteristics (e.g. delivered at different temperatures, pressures, orthe like) and/or chemical characteristics (e.g., different elementalgases, mixtures or compounds) for use in preparation of different typesof beverages or different customized beverages. In an example, the gassystem 112 may switch among different containers or chambers of a Kanbansystem 132, such as based on a threshold limit, such as when one of thechambers is half empty. The gas system 112 in such cases may send asignal to the host system 104 or other local processing/controllingunits (e.g., CPU and memory) 138 to re-supply ingredient gases (e.g., byautomatically reordering cartridges) for the particular chamber which iseither fully empty or is below a threshold level. In an example, the gascartridges 134 may be connected to gas supply mechanisms and/or gas feedchambers that may supply the gases to the chambers. This may includeconnecting to a Kanban container 132. The gas system 112 or container orother component thereof (e.g., a switch) may be communicatively andoperatively connected with an intelligent sensor 140. The intelligentsensor 140 may monitor levels of gases in various chambers of the gassystem 112 and may compare with the threshold levels for generating asignal to re-supply the gases. The intelligent sensor 140 may allowopening and/or closing of different inlet and outlet valves to/from thegas system 112 for furnishing gases to/from the gas system 112. A usermay supply desired gases at desired pressure levels from the cartridges134 into the beverage reconstruction appliance 102.

In an example, the beverage reconstruction appliance 102 may take a CO2cartridge 134 such that CO2 is delivered separately into the appliance102. This may allow keeping CO2 delivery systems under a certain size,such as to facilitate safe and inexpensive delivery, as pressurized CO2above a certain size may be considered hazardous, such as in mailing.Thus, separating the CO2 and selecting a safe size may offer asignificant advantage in pricing and in managing supply chain forreplenishment for the beverage reconstruction appliance 102. In anexample, the multiple Kanban container 132 such as a dual Kanban, may beused for the gas system 112 (e.g. CO2 gas system) to keep a larger totalsupply of CO2 available while still keeping an individual bin size belowthe hazard threshold. By way of example, a dual Kanban reservoir systemmay work well for full service, remotely managed systems. A singleKanban with liquid level sensors and the ability to communicate with thereplenesher may be appropriate for a self-serve solution or for a fullservice solution that may be less effective than the dual Kanban system,but still may be superior to the current situation, where users discoverthey are out of stock, then experience down time as they wait for anorder to be filled.

In embodiments, the CO2 cartridges 134 or other consumables may beprogrammed automatically or set up manually to get auto-replenished.Auto-replenishment may occur through online-ordering or in any othermanner such that the appliance 102 may be communicatively connected withan online supply chain management system either by the local processor138 or through the host system 104, which may be connected to the supplychain management system 184. In order to enable an auto-replenishmentmechanism, the appliance 102 may be configured as a smart connected ornetworked appliance 102 including a series of sensors (such as but notlimited to those shown in FIG. 1) to identify consumption status, and asoftware back end solution to manage consumption data so that knowledgeof the consumption data supports auto replenishment as well asoptimization in the selection and management of the mix of SKUs. CO2consumption status may be measured in several ways. A strain gauge onweight, a dispense counter that may simply count the number of CSDdrinks poured and multiply by the average quantity of CO2/pour and/or apressure monitor on the CO2 gauge may be some ways to determine CO2consumption, among other options. The CO2 consumption information may becommunicated through the networking facility 162 over a WIFI network,LAN, and/or a gateway device to the local processor 138 or to the hostsystem 104 that may enable proactive distribution through the connectedsupply chain 184. On line distribution of cartridges can be enabled, asthe volume and weight of the majority of the water in the finishedbeverage can be postponed to the point of pour in accordance withcertain embodiments disclosed herein. The networked appliance 102configured for online ordering and auto replenishment may overcome theinconvenience of sourcing replacement filters and larger CO2 cartridges.This may avoid requirement of an onerous behavioral change for consumerend users.

The gas system 112 may be defined in conformance to TSA regulations thatlimits distribution of pressurized CO2 canisters. In an example, grounddistribution may be allowed.

In an aspect, the gas handling system may be adapted to accept CO2cartridges that are sized below one hundred grams; in another aspect,the gas handling system may be adapted to accept CO2 cartridges that aresized below 88 grams. This may be because transportation agencies allowthe shipment of CO2 gas containers below a certain weight threshold.Thus, certain sizes may overcome the need to visit a retailer to get CO2refills.

The flavoring pod system 118 may include multiple Kanban bins 142 forstoring different flavors for use as ingredients in the preparation ofbeverages. The multiple Kanban bins 142 may be operatively coupled toseveral flavor pods 144, each containing a different flavor oringredient of a flavor to be placed by a user into the appliance 102 forspecific beverage preparation in accordance with customized flavorrequirements and preferences. The nature and quantity of differentflavors may be controlled by a user based on the user's preferencesusing the flavoring system 118, such as one based on a pod or cartridge.Similar to the Kanban container for gases, the multiple Kanban bins 132for flavors may also switch among the different bins for selectablyusing different flavors contained in the different bins. In variousembodiments, various facilities (such as a Kanban) may be provided forselectably using the same or different flavors having different physicaland/or chemical characteristics for use in preparation of differenttypes of beverages or different customized beverages. For example, a podmay contain syrup for a cola drink, while another pod contains cherryflavor, such that a user can empty both pods to produce a cherry coladrink in addition to using individual pods for a cola or cherry drink,respectively. In embodiments, bins for common flavorings may containenough material, e.g., syrup, to produce multiple servings of abeverage, such as a cola. In an example, the flavoring pod system 118may switch to a different bin or container of a multiple Kanban system,the switching indicating that a particular bin is empty (such as by athreshold limit, such as that the chamber is half empty). Inembodiments, upon recognition that a container is empty, the flavoringpod system 118 may send a signal to the host system 104 or other localprocessing/controlling units 138 to re-supply ingredient flavors for theparticular bin or container which is either fully empty or that is belowa threshold level.

The multiple Kanban bins 142 may be communicatively and operativelyconnected with an intelligent sensor 148. The intelligent sensor 148 maymonitor levels of flavors in various containers or bins and compare withthe threshold levels for generating a signal to re-supply the flavors.The intelligent sensor 148 may allow opening and/or closing of differentinlet and outlet ports to/from the flavoring pod system 118 forfurnishing flavors to/from the flavoring pod system 118. A user maysupply desired flavors at desired pressure and temperature levels fromthe flavor pods 144 into the beverage reconstruction appliance 102.

The sweetener system 114 may also include one or more containers (whichin embodiments may comprise a Kanban container 150) that receivedifferent sweeteners 152 for desired sweetening effects in beverages. Auser may select from among the sweeteners 152 and customize a beveragefor different sweetening effects and for an overall degree of sweetness.For example, a user may select a low calorie artificial sweetener, suchas aspartame, sucralose, or the like, a higher calorie sweetener likehigh fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or a natural sweetener like stevia orcane sugar, or a desired mixture of any of those. In embodiments thesweetener system (such as using a multiple Kanban system 150) may switchbetween the different containers for selectably using differentvarieties of sweetening agents contained in the different containers orfor selectably using the same or different sweetening agents withdifferent physical (e.g., temperature) and/or chemical characteristicsfor use in preparation of different types of beverages or differentcustomized beverages. In an example, the sweetener system 114 may switchto a different container, indicating that a particular container isempty or below a threshold limit, such as when the container is halfempty. The sweetener system 114 in such cases may send a signal to thehost system 104 or other local processing/controlling units 138 tore-supply ingredient sweetening agents for the particular containerwhich is either empty completely or by a threshold level. The sweetenersystem (including, as applicable, the Kanban container 150) may becommunicatively and operatively connected with an intelligent sensor154. The intelligent sensor 154 may monitor levels of sweeteners 152 invarious containers 150 and compare with the threshold levels forgenerating a signal to re-supply the sweeteners 152. The intelligentsensor 154 may allow opening and/or closing of different inlet andoutlet ports to/from the sweetener system 114 for furnishing sweeteningagents or sweeteners 152 to/from the sweetener system 114. A user maysupply desired sweeteners 152 into the beverage reconstruction appliance102.

In an example, the sweetener system 114 may include a ‘two-bin’ Kanbanfor the sweeteners 152 such as a primary bin and a backup bin. When auser has to change an empty container or bin, a refrigerated second binor container may be used to allow pouring of a drink at a propertemperature immediately, without delay during switching, so as tomaintain the availability of beverages at desired temperatures, withdesired carbonation levels, to support “trademark” levels of quality,even during re-supply. For cooling the sweetener or other components, arefrigeration system 158 may be provided. In an example, auto-switchingof an empty bin or container may be done by utilizing liquid levelsensing devices, such as through the intelligent sensor 148. In anexample, a thermistor may be provided to confirm if the sweeteners inboth the bins are at the proper temperature.

The refrigeration system 158 may also be used to generate ice, which maytake water from a water system source and make ice available, such asthrough an ice dispenser. The refrigeration effect may also be achievedthrough the user's addition of ice (such retrieved from an adjacentrefrigerator or ice maker). Ice may be used in typical cube form or, inembodiments, it may be ground or shaved by the appliance; that is, theappliance may include an ice shaver, grinder, or the like, which may beassociated with appropriate sensors for control and reporting ofactions. In either condition the ice may be positioned in an icereservoir 214 that is located physically adjacent to the waterreservoir, thereby adding a conductive cooling effect to the water. At aprescribed temperature of the water, the appliance may complete thebeverage generation, potentially using the crushed, shaved or cubed iceas an ingredient in the drink. Further, through intelligent sensing ofthe temperature of the water, and intelligent information about thenature of the ice, an ice melt factor can be calculated, which can beused by the methods and systems disclosed herein to adjust the waterquantity and insure proper syrup-to-water ratios that factor in themelting of the ice into water.

The beverage mixing appliance 102 may further include a cooling system208 that may be operatively coupled to the sweetener system 114 orrefrigeration system 158, the water system 110, the beverage deliverysystem 122 and with other sub-systems of the beverage mixing appliance102 as needed. In some examples, the beverage mixing appliance 102containing the cooling system 208 may be used to prepare fountainbeverages that may be typically offered with ice, and many times aconsumer may want to put ice in the beverage. The beverage mixingappliance 102 may include or be coupled to a beverage dispenser throughwhich the consumer may want to consider ice as an appropriate andcompelling ingredient along with the beverage prepared by the beveragemixing appliance 102. Unlike in most conventional cold beverageappliances, the beverage mixing appliance 102 may facilitate adding ofice to the beverage separately through the cooling system 208. Thebeverage mixing appliance 102 may prepare the fountain beverages andserve them at or near 40 degrees F., so that the beverages may notparticularly require ice for cooling, although it can be used to retaina lower temperature for some time. The consumer may however choose toput ice in a fountain drink for extra chilling or may want to preservethe cold temperature, may want to enjoy the mouth feel of ice(particularly ground, shaved, or crushed ice), which may be anexperience not conveniently replicated in a packaged beverage. Thebeverage mixing appliance 102 may provide this experience to theconsumer or user easily by incorporating cooling features provided bythe cooling system 208, including generating ice in desired shapes andsizes, such as ground, shaved or crushed ice. The beverage mixingappliance 102 may take ice that is crushed, ground or the like and mixedwith carbonated water prior to or simultaneously with mixing with otheringredients.

In embodiments the cooling system 208 may be a vapor compression system(such as a low cost vapor compression system), a thermo-electric system,a capacitive cooling system (such as an ice bank), an ice crushingsystem (such as using ice for cooling and as an ingredient), acirculation system (such as used in ice cream makers), a cooling platewith surface area to which ingredients are exposed, a eutectic coolingsystem, or other kinds of cooling systems. In embodiments, the variousother kinds of cooling systems (e.g., thermoelectric or vaporcompression) may be used to create an ice bank for capacitive cooling.

The beverage mixing appliance 102 may leverage ice in many other ways.For example, chilling water from the cooling system 208 may allowachieving high quality beverage results. The cold temperature may alsoenable a desired high degree of carbonation. Chilling of water by thecooling system 208 effectively may be achieved by providing variousmechanical and/or electrical components and mechanisms in the coolingsystem 208. A vapor compression system 210 may be used for coolers,fountain systems and vending machines including a compressor, acondenser and an evaporator for example. Other technologies that areless expensive such as thermoelectric plates, and the like, may also beused, perhaps in combination with a capacitive cooling system like anice bank, depending on the end results required. The cooling system 208may include or be coupled to a water reservoir 212 and an ice reservoir214. The consumer may load a quantity of water into an aluminum (orother high heat transfer material) reservoir that may reside inside oradjacent to the ice reservoir 214. Alternatively, the consumer mayconnect a water supply to the appliance. The consumer may be instructedto use cold water to facilitate the process. After a prescribed amountof time or preferably at a prescribed temperature, dispensing of thebeverage may be enabled. The design of the water reservoir mayfacilitate the storage of chilled water in a refrigerator, and saidstorage may be guided by appropriate graphics, language, displays,instructions and the like, directed to the consumer.

In various examples, a variety of product options may be provided by thebeverage mixing appliance 102 based on use of chilling water and/or ice.For example, a pod of syrup may be used and placed in physical contactwith the ice reservoir 214, such as adjacent to the reservoir, so thatthe pod is cooled by the conduction between the pod and the holder ofthe cooled water and/or ice. As the syrup typically represents aboutone-sixth of the beverage volume, pre-chilling the syrup may be desired.The beverage mixing appliance 102 may allow blending of the syrup intouncarbonated water and then introducing carbonation, thereby carbonatingthe entire beverage. This may allow achieving higher levels ofcarbonation and potentially better brix stratification. In anotherproduct solution, smaller versions of the liquid containers referred toas BIBs, which are used in restaurants and similar situations may beused, which may enable multi-beverage applications. In still anotherexample, the cooling system 208 may allow shaving or crushing the ice,as the consumer may tend to prefer shaved ice to cubed ice in beverages,or vice versa. In various examples using the ice or chilling water fromthe cooling system 208, various dispensing options may be provided bythe beverage mixing appliance 102. For example, a consumer may wish todrop the ice into the cup first. Quickly thereafter, carbonated waterand syrup may be dispensed. They may be dropped in substantiallysimultaneously (as in a typical fountain system), or pre-mixed in themixing system 120 as described above. In another example, the water maybe carbonated first but still the syrup may be added in the mixingsystem 120.

In embodiments, a cooling system 208 may comprise a thermo-electriccooling system. Such a system may build an ice bank over time that canbe deployed for cooling capacity as needed, such as during storage ofingredients, during mixing, during transit (such as through conduits),or in a beverage itself

In embodiments, a lower cost version of the appliance may omit a coolingsystem, relying instead on the placement of ice by the consumer, such astaken from a nearby ice maker. Such an appliance may use ice both as apre-cooling mechanism for ingredients within the appliance and as aningredient in a mixed beverage. In such cases, to encourage rapidcooling of the beverage, a facility for handling ice, such for grindingor crushing it, may be located adjacent to ingredients that need to becooled, such as the syrup, water, and liquid sweetener. For example,conduits that deliver a serving of a beverage could be routed through anice bank, ice holder, or, if available, an ice maker, so that smallamounts of fluid are pre-cooled as they transit toward mixing in thebeverage (such as in the cup). Arrangements like those used inhand-driven ice cream makers (where ice is located around the perimeterof a mixing chamber), ones in which ice is located centrally andsurrounded by liquid ingredients, ones in which ingredients are routedvia conduits (e.g., snaking configurations) through the ice to exposethe ingredients to conductive heat transfer, and others may becontemplated, each adapted to encourage exposure of liquid ingredientsto ice during storage, during transit, during mixing, or in the cup.

In embodiments, mixing may involve simultaneous mixing of syrup andwater and carbonation. If that occurs in a chamber that is cooled by anadjacent containing ice that is placed by a user (optionally one inwhich ice is ground), desired cooling can be accomplished without apower-using cooling system. Ice can be stored around the mixing chamberso that heat thermally transfers across a barrier (e.g., metal) betweenthe ice and the mixing chamber. In embodiments a grinder could belocated below the ingredient mixing chamber and the ice holder chamber,so that once ice is ground, the mixed, carbonated liquid and the ice aredropped via the same chute into a cup.

In an embodiment, one might circulate water or other liquid ingredientsthrough the ice.

In embodiments, a thermo-electric plate may be configured, such as in agrid, or serpentine configuration, to pre-cool water before it is placedin the beverage. In each of these embodiments the cost of vaporcompression is avoided by pre-cooling water or other liquid ingredientsto a near-optimal temperature, then relying on ice in the cup itself tocomplete the path to the desired beverage, e.g., “trademark” qualitybeverage.

In an example, the various cartridges, containers, pods, chambers, binsand the like may be deployed with anti-counterfeiting measures, such astampering sensors, ingredient sensors for identifying markerarrangements that may validate a legitimate ingredient and the like, andphysical structures that ensure a unique ‘lock and key’ fit between apod or container or cartridge or chamber or bin and the beverage mixingappliance 102.

FIG. 2 provides a block diagram of an arrangement for housingingredients in which an ice crushing system is used to pre-chill waterbefore carbonating a beverage. Water from the water system 110 and CO2from the gas system 112 are used to create carbonated water 204. Thewater system 112 may be disposed along a conductive heat transferfacility 214, such as made of a heat conducting material, such as metal,adjacent to the cooling system 208 that makes ice, or simply an icerepository, such as filled by a user from a nearby ice maker. The systemthat makes or holds the ice may include a crushing facility 210 forcrushing the ice. The sweetener system 114 may house a sweetener, suchas sugar, and the flavoring system 118, such as a pod-based flavoringsystem, may be housed together with the sweetener system 114. Theflavoring system may include flavors, colors, acids, buffers, and thelike, as well as artificial sweeteners in cases of diet beverages. Inembodiments, a concentrated beverage ingredient, or concentrate 202,such as a syrup, syrup ingredient, juice concentrate, or the like may bedeconstructed into various components or sub-components, and housedseparately, then mixed to form the concentrate 202, while in otherembodiments the concentrate 202 may be provided and housed as a completeitem. References to a syrup or concentrate throughout this disclosureshould be understood to encompass, except where context indicatesotherwise, any concentrated ingredient or ingredients, such as a syrups,juice concentrates, or the like. The concentrate 202, carbonated water204 and crushed ice 210 may be delivered to a cup. In embodiments, theice crushing subsystem 210 may be used to pre-chill the water beforecarbonation. The concentrate 202 or sweetener may also take advantage ofconductive cooling from the ice.

FIG. 3 provides a block diagram for an embodiment of a system in whichan ice sub-system 218 is used as a pre-chiller for water and syrup. Thewater system 110, as well as the flavoring system 118 and sweetenersystem 114 may be housed adjacent to respective conductive heat transferfacilities 214 from the cooling system 218 or other repository for theice 218, so that the ice 218 cools the water, flavoring and sweetener.The crushing system 210 crushes ice that is then delivered to the cup212 along with concentrate 202 and carbonated water made from the watersystem 110 and the gas system 112. Here the ice system is used as apre-chiller for both the water and the concentrate 202. Alternatively,the sweetener alone can be pre-chilled, as it represents the majority ofthe volume of the syrup. Further cooling of both water and syrup can beenhanced via vapor compression or thermal electric systems as notedelsewhere in this disclosure.

FIG. 4 provides a block diagram of an embodiment of a system in whichdual kanbans 402 are used to house sweeteners. In this embodiment thewater of the water system 110 may be held in a conductive container 404(e.g., made of metal or other heat-conductive material) that may have aheat-conductive connection across the conductive heat transfer facility214, so that it will be cooled by the ice 218 in the cooling system 208or ice repository. In embodiments, the conductive container 404 may beremovable and replaceable by the user. In such embodiments, a user maybe provided with two conductive containers 404, so that the user canstore one container in a cool place, such as in a nearby refrigerator,for cooling while the other container is in use. This provides a readysource of low temperature input water at all times, making it easier toproduce a high quality beverage without requiring an expensive or highperformance cooling system 208 (or perhaps omitting the cooling system208 entirely, relying only on ice provided by the user and the coolinput water to achieve the desired temperature). In this embodiment, thedual sweetener containers (optionally kanbans) are also disposed acrossa heat conducting boundary from the cooling system 208 or icerepository, so that the syrup is also cool when delivered to the cup 212along with the ice 218 that is crushed by the crushing system 210 andthe carbonated water made using the water system 110 and the gas system110. The dual kanban embodiment of a dual sweetener arrangement 402 mayprovide advantages disclosed throughout this disclosure, such asoffering alternative forms of sweetener, facilitating timely replacementand the like. The dual bins also allow a small sweetener bin that isunder current use to be placed adjacent to the conductive heat transferboundary 214, so that the small volume is rapidly cooled to the desiredtemperature, while ensuring that a sufficient supply is availablethrough the second bin.

FIG. 5 provides a block diagram of an embodiment of a system in whichice 218 is crushed in the crushing system 210 before integrating withnon-carbonated water from the water system 110, and carbonation is addedfrom the gas system 112 to form a carbonated slurry 504. The water maybe stored across a heat conductive boundary 214 from the cooling system208 or ice repository, so that it is pre-chilled before being added tothe slurry 504. Pre-chilling of the water may be accomplished through avapor compression system or by using a thermo-electric plate, one orboth of which may augment the effect of the conductive cooling. As inother embodiments, concentrate 202 may be made from ingredients from theflavoring system 118 and sweetener system 114. This embodiment has icecrushed before integrating with non-carbonated water, and the CO2 isadded to form the slurry 504. In alternative embodiments the CO2 112 maybe added to the slurry 504, or it may be mixed with the water in advanceof forming the slurry. The concentrate 202 (whether pre-mixed or not)may be added to the slurry 504 to form the final, carbonated beverage.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of an arrangement of components of abeverage mixing appliance. A water system 110 and a repository for ice218 are placed at the top of the appliance to allow the user to addwater or ice, such as by pouring or by inserting an appropriatelyfitting container. A drawer 602 on the side of the appliance provides alocation for the gas system 112, such as for inserting CO2 cartridgesused for carbonation. A drawer 610 is used for the flavoring system 118,such as allowing a user to insert flavoring pods 144. A nozzle 612 feedsvarious ingredients, including carbonated water, sweetener, flavor, andice into a cup that can be place below the nozzle. The appliance mayhouse internally the various other sub-systems and components disclosedthroughout this disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of use of a disk system under force toassist in evacuating syrup from a flexible container. A flexible pouch710 houses a liquid ingredient, such as pre-mixed concentrate 202comprising flavors, sweeteners, and the like, or comprising liquidsweetener. A foil seal layer 704 may seal the pouch 710. A substantiallyrigid disk 708 may be disposed on one side of the pouch 710, such as toallow a force 702 to push on the disk to force the liquid to evacuatethe pouch through an opening on the opposite side. A foil or otherfacility 712 may be used on the opposite side of the pouch 710, such asto seal the pouch 710 until it is ready to be emptied, at which point itmay be punctured, such as by an interface with a conduit to which thepouch 710 will deliver the liquid when force 702 is imposed on the disk708, resulting in the collapse of the pouch 710 and the evacuation ofthe liquid through the opposite opening. The dispensing force 702 may becontrolled by the control system 170 to deliver the correct amount ofliquid, optionally in response to sensing the amount of liquid beingdispensed. This approach may be used for a single serve or multipleserve container, so dispensing force 702 may be adjusted appropriately,such as based on an algorithm under control of a processor, depending onwhether the first serving, a subsequent serving, or the last serving isbeing dispensed in cases of multiple serving containers. In such anembodiment, the syrup may be filled in the plastic pouch 710 with arigid disk 708 placed on top. The force 702 is applied to the rigid disk708 to evacuate the liquid syrup at a controlled rate. The force 702 canbe generated by various mechanisms, such as by using a motor-drivenpiston (e.g., using a stepper motor), by applying force from a pump(e.g., a pump used to pump in carbonated or non-carbonated water), froma spring force (optionally with appropriate damping), or the like.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a system in which a cold bowl with aeutectic cooling fluid is used to provide cooling. In this embodiment, acold bowl 814, similar to those used in ice cream makers, may be storedin a freezer prior to use. The cold bowl 814 may include a coolingfluid, such as a eutectic cooling fluid, to facilitate conductive heattransfer, such as to help cool the carbonated water 204 or otheringredients prior to delivery to the cup 212.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a system in which a cold tube with aeutectic cooling fluid is used to provide cooling. A cold tube 915,similar to those used in table-top cooling beverage dispensers, may holda cooling fluid, such as a eutectic cooling fluid. The tube 915 may bestored in a freezer prior to use and then placed in an ambient chamber214, such as a chamber that has conductive heat transfer properties,such as to allow cooling of carbonated water 204 or other ingredients.

The various ingredients such as water from the water system 110,pressurized gas from the gas system 112, different flavors from theflavoring pod system 118, and sweeteners from the sweetener system 114,ice from the cooling system 208 may be directed to the mixing system 120where the ingredients may be allowed to enter in a quantity andproportion prescribed through user custom preferences or through thespecifications of the provider for preparing a customized or otherwisespecified beverage. The mixing system 120 may mix the variousingredients coming from various chambers, Kanban systems, and bins, toprepare a mixture for the beverage or for further processing in othersystems. The mixing system 120 may include tubes, valves, conduits, andthe like, such as for selectively introducing one or more source liquidsinto a flow for a mixture. In embodiments, the mixing system 120 may becoupled to or include power mixers for fast blending or mixing of theingredients. The mixing system 120 may utilize heating elements orinductive couplings, and the like, to introduce heat into the mixturefor fast blending. The heating effect may be enhanced by the use of highpower LED arrays, especially for frozen or cold slurry of ingredients.Various mechanical arrangements such as rotary shafts, blades,mechanical agitators, motors, etc. may be provided in the mixing system120 for efficient blending/mixing. The mixing system 120 may be coupledoperatively and communicatively with or may include an intelligentsensor 160 to allow monitoring of pre-programmed recipes and mixing ofthe ingredients in accordance with the pre-programmed recipes ofbeverages as may be controlled or instructed by the host system 104remotely or through a local controller or processor 138 for execution ofheating, cooling, pressurization/de-pressurization, blending, and‘mixing time’ parameters etc. during the mixing process. In variousexamples, the ingredients obtained from various systems may be stored,replenished, and mixed in the mixing system 120 under control of themixing system 120 with the use of a local processor or controller 138managed by a user or through the remotely located host system 104 formanaging the beverage mixing appliance 102.

In an example, sensed data or reports gathered by on-device sensor unitsor controllers such as the intelligent sensor 128 coupled to the watersystem 110, the intelligent sensor 140 coupled to the gas system 112,the intelligent sensor 148 coupled to the flavoring pod system 118, theintelligent sensor 154 coupled to the sweetener system 114, and variousother sensing or intelligent units associated with or deployed at thesub-systems and components of the beverage mixing appliance 102 may becommunicated to the local processor or controller or control system 138and the networking facility 162 via one or more bus 164. The sensed dataand reports may for example contain information pertinent to processingactions executed at various sub-systems. For example, the intelligentsensor 128 at the water system 110 may communicate data related to watertreatment, water composition, mineral constituents, unwanted materialspresent in the water supply, and the like, processing steps for watertreatment, etc. The intelligent sensor 140 at the gas system 112 maysupply information related to pressurization of gas received from thecartridges 134, availability of the gas in the cartridges 134, etc., tothe local controller 138.

The local controller 138 (also referred to as controller or CPU orcontrol unit or processor or processing unit, interchangeably andwithout limitation except where context indicates otherwise) may beconfigured to receive the sensed data or reports from the variousintelligent units or sensors through the bus 164 for data processing anddecision making to execute instructions accordingly for furtherprocessing by the sub-systems and for material replenishments throughbins, cartridges, chambers, etc., in the networked reconstructionbeverage appliance 102, including based on user preferences, vendorspecifications, stored rules and the like. Such rules may be storeddigitally in a memory included within or coupled to the controller 138.The stored rules in association with the data received from thesub-systems may generate an output for executing the instructions. Forexample, the memory may store rules defining capacity of various binsand cartridges, and if the sensed data indicate that ingredients in aparticular bin or cartridge or container is almost empty or has reachedits threshold limit, the controller 138 may send instructions to a useror to the sub-systems for replenishment of the cartridge or bin orcontainer. In accordance with an example, the controller 138 may includeor be communicatively coupled to various interfaces and controls 168,ingredient control 170, and other processing components for allowing thecontroller 138 to perform programmed instructions in conjunction withuser inputs, user preferences, stored data, stored rules, and senseddata retrieved from the intelligent units or sensors.

In an example, the sensed data or reports may be communicated to theremote application management host system 104 through the bus 164, suchas for processing of the data at a remote location and to control thebeverage mixing appliance 102 and various sub-systems thereof fromremote. The remote application management host system 104 can setdesired values for different parameters that may influence taste, color,flavor, smell, temperature, sweetening, mix of ingredients, and othercharacteristics of a beverage ultimately delivering a customizedbeverage to a user. The parameters may be specified by a user through aninterface 172 that is provided at the remote appliance management hostsystem 104 or that may be pre-defined for different user categories in arules engine 174. The rules engine 174 may store rules for creatingpre-programmed recipes of beverages for a specific user or user group,so that instructions may be sent from the appliance management hostsystem 104 to the beverage mixing appliance 102, and sub-systemsthereof, for preparing a specific customized beverage for the user oruser group. For example, a franchisor may specify beverage ingredients,temperatures, ice levels, and other parameters for a given beverage,which may be stored and executed in appliances that are deployed by thefranchisees of that franchise.

The appliance management host system 104 may include a CPU and memory178 that may execute programmed instructions stored in the appliancemanagement host system 104 in accordance with the rules stored in therules engine 174. The appliance management host system 104 may includean ingredient control 178 that may control ingredients quantities inpreparing a beverage. The ingredient control 178 may send instructionsin association with the CPU and memory 178 to the various containers,bins and cartridges such as 134, 144, 142, 150, 152, and the like, suchas for causing necessary ingredients to move into and through thenetworked beverage appliance 102, and through the various conduits andsub-systems thereof, for preparing a beverage. In accordance with anembodiment, the ingredient control 180 may send instructions to materialsupply systems such as water supply 124 for allowing water to flowtoward the water system 110 once the intelligent unit and/or sensor 130sends a signal to the appliance management host system 104 indicative ofreplenishment of water.

In another embodiment, the appliance management host system 104 mayallow a user to specify his or her preferences and requirements for abeverage through the user interface 172. The user interface may comprisea screen (such as a menu screen, touch screen, or the like), one or morebuttons, dials, sliders, or the like (which may be on screen, embodiedin hardware, or presented on the interface of a remote device, such as aremote control and/or smart phone or similar device of the user). Theuser may provide requisite details (such as specifying a flavor, a levelof sweetness, a temperature and/or a type of sweetener), and theappliance management host system 104 may send instructions to thedifferent sub-components of the beverage mixing appliance 102 forpreparing the beverage in accordance with the details provided by theuser through the use interface 172. The user interface 172 may beenabled through a set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Forexample, an API may allow an application of a smart phone to takeinformation from a user that is used to populate appropriate modules ofthe appliance to enable remote specification of a beverage and otherremote control features. The remote appliance management host system 104may further include a data store 182 that serves as a repository of datafor use in preparing a customized beverage. For example, the data store182 may store pre-programmed recipes of beverages which may selectablyordered by a user through the user interface 172 sitting at a remotelocation from the beverage mixing appliance 102. In another example, thedata store 182 may store user preferences, user details, and userhistorical orders for automatically providing an interface to a usernext time he comes in to purchase a beverage so that he may use presetoptions for ordering a beverage based on his past orders and/or pastpreferences as identified through the information contained in the datastore 182.

The remote appliance management host system 104 and/or beverage mixingappliance 102 may communicate with a supply chain management system 184that may handle tracking of the need to replenish one or morecontainers, cartridges, or chambers. The supply chain management system184 may route replenishment information to one or more replenishmentstores, warehouses and/or vehicles such as delivery trucks, etc. Thedirect communication of the supply chain management system 184 with theremote appliance management host system 104 and/or the beverage mixingappliance 102 may allow ‘just in time’ delivery of various ingredientsto the respective chambers, containers, cartridges, and bins of thebeverage mixing appliance 102. The supply chain management system 184may include various delivery channels and delivery mediums withintelligent systems and sensors that each may be connected directly withthe remote appliance management host system 104 and/or the beveragemixing appliance 102 to receive and send information signals forreplenishment of materials. The integrated supply chain management withthe appliance 102 and the host system 104 may benefit and provide valueto each entity involved in the supply chain and for providing anefficient channel management for on-demand replenishment of materials inreal-time.

The remote appliance management host system 104 and/or beverage mixingappliance 102 may communicate with an analysis and reporting system 188for analyzing data received from various data sources such as the datastore 182, external data sources 190, data sources of the appliance 102,data received from the sub-systems of the appliance 102 and forgenerating reports from the analyzed data. The analyzed data and reportsmay be stored in the data store 182 and/or the external data sources 190or may be sent to the beverage mixing appliance 102 for use inpreparation of beverages. The analyzed data and the reports may beindicative of user preferences, user demographic details, replenishmentinformation, supply management information, internal constraints, andoperational factors of the appliance 102, user feedback, and user likesand dislikes, and the like. The analytics and reporting system 188 mayenable various analyses and perform various reporting and otherfunctions that may be enabled through analytics, reporting and otherhosted applications. In an example, the analytics and reporting system188 may optionally include an application for handling dynamic pricing,such as to influence use of components in a defined manner. For example,the dynamic pricing plan may promote consumption of ingredients in fullcontainers by providing additional discounts, etc., and may seek to slowconsumption of nearly empty containers or components by price increases.

The remote appliance management host system 104 and/or beverage mixingappliance 102 may communicate with a data storage system or the externaldata sources 190, and other external systems 108, and the like. Theremote appliance management host system 104 may retrieve data from theexternal data sources 190 or may populate the external data sources 190with reports or other information from the appliance 102 and/or the hostsystem 104.

The remote appliance management host system 104 may include a networkingfacility 192 for allowing communication and networking through wiredand/or wireless channels among the various components of the remoteappliance management host system 104 and the appliance 102. In anexample, the different components within the appliance 102 may becoupled communicatively as well as operatively. The networking facility162 within the appliance 102 may allow such communication and networkingwithin the appliance 102 to provide a communicative connection whiledifferent sub-components may be coupled operatively through deliveryfacilities such as tubes for passing ingredients from one sub-system toanother. For example, a delivery facility 194 connects the water system110 operatively to the mixing system 120, a delivery facility 198connects the gas system 112 operatively to the mixing system 120, and adelivery facility 200 connects the flavoring pod system operatively tothe mixing system 120. Similarly various other delivery facilities maybe provided to connect other systems and sub-systems operatively withinthe appliance 102.

In an example, the beverage mixing appliance 102 may provide the user acustomizable option for ordering a beverage according to specificindividual requirements and taste. For example, the appliance mayprovide the user with alerts, such as signal to re-supply components.The appliance 102 may report calorie information and other informationto the user through an interface such as a user interface screen similarto the user interface 172. In an example, the user interface may be atouch screen. The touch screen may allow a user to dial up and downvarious components, such as to provide a mixed-flavor beverage and/or abeverage with a desired level of sweetness or calorie level. Thebeverage mixing appliance 102 may facilitate a smart beveragepreparation mechanism and system for allowing a user to intelligentlyvary taste, flavor, and various other characteristics of the beveragejust by using from the provided selectable options presented on the userinterface either at the local control unit 138 or at the remotelylocated user interface 172.

In an example, the beverage mixing appliance 102 may be an intelligentnetworked soda appliance. The intelligent networked soda appliance 102may include a soda pod system, which may represent “deconstructed”versions of conventional soda pods, such as by separating fluids, suchas having a separate sweetener container, which may be held in therefrigeration system 158 of the intelligent networked soda appliance102. This may enable better carbonation, due to lower temperaturemaintained in the refrigeration system 158. This may allow to easilymeeting high quality standards that normally apply to packaged sodadrinks (such as in cans or bottles). This may also enable ‘dial yoursweetness’ control to a user to get sweetness according to individualpreference. This may also allow the user to choose sweetener of hischoice. For example, a user may select high fructose corn syrup or canesugar or organic sugar, and the like. By taking the sugar out from theliquid, the containers are left with pod ingredients with a very narrowrange of viscosity, which may aid in preparing a quality beverage orsoda or any other drink. It may be noted that a pod that omits sugar canbe significantly smaller, less expensive, and more environmentallyacceptable than a pod with sugar. Such a pod may contain flavors,colors, acid, some amount of water and perhaps a buffer (which could bea small amount of liquid sugar or high fructose corn syrup). Further,omission of sugar may allow better pod emptying in an air or throughwater/liquid pressurizing system.

In a non-deconstructed pod-based appliance, the appliance 102 may havean algorithm which may alter pressure, which may force out the syrupbased on viscosity (which in turn depends on temperature) ascharacterized for every pod or container, wherein every pod or containermay be identified through an identification code by the appliance 102 toknow intelligently which pod or container to which to apply thepressure. Also, viscosity will tend to be affected by the temperature ofthe syrup, which may also be measured by a sensor or sensors, so that aprecise understanding of the viscosity of the in-pod syrup can becharacterized, and an appropriate pressure applied. Also an algorithmmay be used to take a surface temperature reading and extrapolate anaverage syrup temperature for the rest of a unit of syrup.

The respective rates of ingredient evacuation may be an important factorin controlling the mixing of ingredients and achieving a “trademark” orhigh level of quality control of the ratios of ingredients throughout afinished beverage. This is particularly challenging with ingredientsthat have high and variable viscosities, such as syrup and particularlyliquid sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Two technical solutions may beused, as alternative or in combination, to address this challenge. Thefirst is to utilize a pumping system that is not highly dependent onviscosity, such as a volumetric pumping system that evacuates theingredient at a given rate independent of viscosity (i.e., force). Inthe second method, referred to as a pressure system or a forced system,the viscosity of the ingredient is identified (by understanding thesyrup/brand and temperature) and the system adjusts the force given theviscosity. In such an embodiment a sealed environment may be created,and the space may be pressurized with air, CO2, nitrogen, or the like.Based on an understanding of the viscosity of the fluid being evacuated(which may include characterizing the specific brand (and its inherentviscosity curves) and the temperature of the syrup), an appropriateamount of gas pressure can be regulated in the sealed chamber to achievethe desired exit flow rate. A control system can be leveraged to managethe exit gas pressure during the pour to ensure optimal, “trademark,”results.

The sugar systems mentioned above have a viscosity that varies withtemperature and brand, so both aspects may be understood andcharacterized. So, for an overpressure system it may be useful tounderstand and characterize both the specific brand of product and theaverage temperature of the viscous ingredient. The brand of the productmay be identified on the pod, such as with a colored label, and asensor, such as an optical sensor, can discern color. Another solutionmay be a simple binary code on the container, an RFID tag, a QR code, abar code, or the like. The temperature of the ingredient can bemeasured, such as with a thermal sensor, e.g. a thermistor. Alsotemperature-affected, color changing packaging can utilize an opticalsensor to detect a brand signature.

Other methods of evacuating a viscous fluid can include using pulsewidth modulation (PWM) with a micro-controlled solenoid. In embodiments,one may use various techniques to evacuate the pod in a predictable way;for example, the pod may be evacuated volumetrically, using a steppermotor to apply pressure to the pod in a linearly correlated rate to theeffluence of water. This may involve using a pod that has a disk towhich pressure is applied and a syrup container that is collapsible,such as a plastic pouch or a plastic container that can collapsepredictably. Further, the forcing mechanism to evacuate a pod may be thewater for the beverage itself, either pre-carbonated or post carbonated.Again, a solid disk may be used to receive the force and to push thesyrup out of the flexible pod. In embodiments, the syrup in the pod mayconsist of a pouch full of syrup, an attached plastic disk, an outerplastic pod body, and one or more seals on the top and/or bottom of thepod assembly. A seal (e.g., the lower seal) may be punctured and thepressure applied to appropriately move the disk and drive the syrup outof the pouch. This may be accomplished by using variable forces, such asnoted above, such as based on understanding the fluid viscosity aspreviously described.

Once the beverage ingredients are customized based on user preferences,stored programmed instructions and other information as obtained fromthe user locally or through the host system 104 located at a remotelocation, the beverage can be prepared and delivered to the user throughthe beverage delivery system 122. The beverage delivery system mayinclude dispensing machines and apparatuses for allowing a user toreceive the beverage directly. The beverage delivery system may becoupled to an intelligent sensor 202 for controlling flow of beverage tothe dispensing system based on amount paid by the user or based on userinput received earlier, and various other inputs as suggested either bythe user or by the remote host system 104. The mixing system 120 maysupply the ingredients after mixing to the dispensing or beveragedelivery system 122 through a delivery facility 204. Among other things,the appliance 102 in accordance with the present disclosure may providea quality dispensed cold CSD beverage with clean water, coldtemperature, high carbonation and good ratio control.

A waste disposal system 218 may include one or more sensors forreporting data to the control system 168 and may handle waste water(e.g., from melted, unused ice) and other ingredients (such as unusedportions). The waste disposal system may recycle one or moreingredients, such as to a filter, for re-use.

While only a few embodiments of the present disclosure have been shownand described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that manychanges and modifications may be made thereunto without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the present disclosure as described in thefollowing claims. All patent applications and patents, both foreign anddomestic, and all other publications referenced herein are incorporatedherein in their entireties to the full extent permitted by law.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through a machine that executes computer software, program codes,and/or instructions on a processor. The present disclosure may beimplemented as a method on the machine, as a system or apparatus as partof or in relation to the machine, or as a computer program productembodied in a computer readable medium executing on one or more of themachines. In embodiments, the processor may be part of a server, cloudserver, client, network infrastructure, mobile computing platform,stationary computing platform, or other computing platform. A processormay be any kind of computational or processing device capable ofexecuting program instructions, codes, binary instructions and the like.The processor may be or may include a signal processor, digitalprocessor, embedded processor, microprocessor or any variant such as aco-processor (math co-processor, graphic co-processor, communicationco-processor and the like) and the like that may directly or indirectlyfacilitate execution of program code or program instructions storedthereon. In addition, the processor may enable execution of multipleprograms, threads, and codes. The threads may be executed simultaneouslyto enhance the performance of the processor and to facilitatesimultaneous operations of the application. By way of implementation,methods, program codes, program instructions and the like describedherein may be implemented in one or more thread. The thread may spawnother threads that may have assigned priorities associated with them;the processor may execute these threads based on priority or any otherorder based on instructions provided in the program code. The processor,or any machine utilizing one, may include non-transitory memory thatstores methods, codes, instructions and programs as described herein andelsewhere. The processor may access a non-transitory storage mediumthrough an interface that may store methods, codes, and instructions asdescribed herein and elsewhere. The storage medium associated with theprocessor for storing methods, programs, codes, program instructions orother type of instructions capable of being executed by the computing orprocessing device may include but may not be limited to one or more of aCD-ROM, DVD, memory, hard disk, flash drive, RAM, ROM, cache and thelike.

A processor may include one or more cores that may enhance speed andperformance of a multiprocessor. In embodiments, the process may be adual core processor, quad core processors, other chip-levelmultiprocessor and the like that combine two or more independent cores(called a die).

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through a machine that executes computer software on a server,client, firewall, gateway, hub, router, or other such computer and/ornetworking hardware. The software program may be associated with aserver that may include a file server, print server, domain server,internet server, intranet server, cloud server, and other variants suchas secondary server, host server, distributed server and the like. Theserver may include one or more of memories, processors, computerreadable media, storage media, ports (physical and virtual),communication devices, and interfaces capable of accessing otherservers, clients, machines, and devices through a wired or a wirelessmedium, and the like. The methods, programs, or codes as describedherein and elsewhere may be executed by the server. In addition, otherdevices required for execution of methods as described in thisapplication may be considered as a part of the infrastructure associatedwith the server.

The server may provide an interface to other devices including, withoutlimitation, clients, other servers, printers, database servers, printservers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers,social networks, and the like. Additionally, this coupling and/orconnection may facilitate remote execution of program across thenetwork. The networking of some or all of these devices may facilitateparallel processing of a program or method at one or more locationwithout deviating from the scope of the disclosure. In addition, any ofthe devices attached to the server through an interface may include atleast one storage medium capable of storing methods, programs, codeand/or instructions. A central repository may provide programinstructions to be executed on different devices. In thisimplementation, the remote repository may act as a storage medium forprogram code, instructions, and programs.

The software program may be associated with a client that may include afile client, print client, domain client, intern& client, intranetclient and other variants such as secondary client, host client,distributed client and the like. The client may include one or more ofmemories, processors, computer readable media, storage media, ports(physical and virtual), communication devices, and interfaces capable ofaccessing other clients, servers, machines, and devices through a wiredor a wireless medium, and the like. The methods, programs, or codes asdescribed herein and elsewhere may be executed by the client. Inaddition, other devices required for execution of methods as describedin this application may be considered as a part of the infrastructureassociated with the client.

The client may provide an interface to other devices including, withoutlimitation, servers, other clients, printers, database servers, printservers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers andthe like. Additionally, this coupling and/or connection may facilitateremote execution of program across the network. The networking of someor all of these devices may facilitate parallel processing of a programor method at one or more location without deviating from the scope ofthe disclosure. In addition, any of the devices attached to the clientthrough an interface may include at least one storage medium capable ofstoring methods, programs, applications, code and/or instructions. Acentral repository may provide program instructions to be executed ondifferent devices. In this implementation, the remote repository may actas a storage medium for program code, instructions, and programs.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through network infrastructures. The network infrastructure mayinclude elements such as computing devices, servers, routers, hubs,firewalls, clients, personal computers, communication devices, routingdevices and other active and passive devices, modules and/or componentsas known in the art. The computing and/or non-computing device(s)associated with the network infrastructure may include, apart from othercomponents, a storage medium such as flash memory, buffer, stack, RAM,ROM and the like. The processes, methods, program codes, instructionsdescribed herein and elsewhere may be executed by one or more of thenetwork infrastructural elements. The methods and systems describedherein may be adapted for use with any kind of private, community, orhybrid cloud computing network or cloud computing environment, includingthose which involve features of software as a service (SaaS), platformas a service (PaaS), and/or infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein andelsewhere may be implemented on a cellular network having multiplecells. The cellular network may either be a frequency division multipleaccess (FDMA) network or a code division multiple access (CDMA) network.The cellular network may include mobile devices, cell sites, basestations, repeaters, antennas, towers, and the like. The cell networkmay be a GSM, GPRS, 3G, EVDO, mesh, or other network types.

The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein andelsewhere may be implemented on or through mobile devices. The mobiledevices may include navigation devices, cell phones, mobile phones,mobile personal digital assistants, laptops, palmtops, netbooks, pagers,electronic books readers, music players and the like. These devices mayinclude, apart from other components, a storage medium such as a flashmemory, buffer, RAM, ROM and one or more computing devices. Thecomputing devices associated with mobile devices may be enabled toexecute program codes, methods, and instructions stored thereon.Alternatively, the mobile devices may be configured to executeinstructions in collaboration with other devices. The mobile devices maycommunicate with base stations interfaced with servers and configured toexecute program codes. The mobile devices may communicate on apeer-to-peer network, mesh network, or other communications network. Theprogram code may be stored on the storage medium associated with theserver and executed by a computing device embedded within the server.The base station may include a computing device and a storage medium.The storage device may store program codes and instructions executed bythe computing devices associated with the base station.

The computer software, program codes, and/or instructions may be storedand/or accessed on machine readable media that may include: computercomponents, devices, and recording media that retain digital data usedfor computing for some interval of time; semiconductor storage known asrandom access memory (RAM); mass storage types typically used for morepermanent storage, such as optical discs, forms of magnetic storage likehard disks, tapes, drums, cards and other types; processor registers,cache memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory; optical storage suchas CD, DVD; removable media such as flash memory (e.g. USB sticks orkeys), floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape, punch cards, standaloneRAM disks, Zip drives, removable mass storage, off-line, storage areanetworks, and the like; other computer memory such as dynamic memory,static memory, read/write storage, mutable storage, read only, randomaccess, sequential access, location addressable, file addressable,content addressable, network attached storage, storage area network, barcodes, magnetic ink, and the like.

The methods and systems described herein may transform physical and/oror intangible items from one state to another. The methods and systemsdescribed herein may also transform data representing physical and/orintangible items from one state to another.

The elements described and depicted herein, including in flow charts andblock diagrams throughout the figures, imply logical boundaries betweenthe elements. However, according to software or hardware engineeringpractices, the depicted elements and the functions thereof may beimplemented on machines through computer executable media having aprocessor capable of executing program instructions stored thereon as amonolithic software structure, as standalone software modules, or asmodules that employ external routines, code, services, and so forth, orany combination of these, and all such implementations may be within thescope of the present disclosure. Examples of such machines may include,but may not be limited to, personal digital assistants, laptops,personal computers, mobile phones, other handheld computing devices,medical equipment, wired or wireless communication devices, transducers,chips, calculators, satellites, tablet PCs, electronic books, gadgets,electronic devices, devices having artificial intelligence, computingdevices, networking equipment, servers, routers and the like.Furthermore, the elements depicted in the flow chart and block diagramsor any other logical component may be implemented on a machine capableof executing program instructions. Thus, while the foregoing drawingsand descriptions set forth functional aspects of the disclosed systems,no particular arrangement of software for implementing these functionalaspects should be inferred from these descriptions unless explicitlystated or otherwise clear from the context. Similarly, it will beappreciated that the various steps identified and described above may bevaried, and that the order of steps may be adapted to particularapplications of the techniques disclosed herein. All such variations andmodifications are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure.As such, the depiction and/or description of an order for various stepsshould not be understood to require a particular order of execution forthose steps, unless required by a particular application, or explicitlystated or otherwise clear from the context.

The methods and/or processes described above, and steps associatedtherewith, may be realized in hardware, software or any combination ofhardware and software suitable for a particular application. Thehardware may include a general-purpose computer and/or dedicatedcomputing device or specific computing device or particular aspect orcomponent of a specific computing device. The processes may be realizedin one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embeddedmicrocontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or otherprogrammable device, along with internal and/or external memory. Theprocesses may also, or instead, be embodied in an application specificintegrated circuit, a programmable gate array, programmable array logic,or any other device or combination of devices that may be configured toprocess electronic signals. It will further be appreciated that one ormore of the processes may be realized as a computer executable codecapable of being executed on a machine-readable medium.

The computer executable code may be created using a structuredprogramming language such as C, an object oriented programming languagesuch as C++, or any other high-level or low-level programming language(including assembly languages, hardware description languages, anddatabase programming languages and technologies) that may be stored,compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well asheterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, orcombinations of different hardware and software, or any other machinecapable of executing program instructions.

Thus, in one aspect, methods described above and combinations thereofmay be embodied in computer executable code that, when executing on oneor more computing devices, performs the steps thereof. In anotheraspect, the methods may be embodied in systems that perform the stepsthereof, and may be distributed across devices in a number of ways, orall of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated, standalonedevice or other hardware. In another aspect, the means for performingthe steps associated with the processes described above may include anyof the hardware and/or software described above. All such permutationsand combinations are intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

While the disclosure has been disclosed in connection with the preferredembodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications andimprovements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present disclosure isnot to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood inthe broadest sense allowable by law.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in thecontext of describing the disclosure (especially in the context of thefollowing claims) is to be construed to cover both the singular and theplural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted bycontext. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing”are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, butnot limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of valuesherein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referringindividually to each separate value falling within the range, unlessotherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated intothe specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methodsdescribed herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwiseindicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The useof any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”)provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the disclosureand does not pose a limitation on the scope of the disclosure unlessotherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construedas indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice ofthe disclosure.

While the foregoing written description enables one of ordinary skill tomake and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof,those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence ofvariations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment,method, and examples herein. The disclosure should therefore not belimited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but byall embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of thedisclosure.

The above systems, devices, methods, processes, and the like may berealized in hardware, software, or any combination of these suitable fora particular application. The hardware may include a general-purposecomputer and/or dedicated computing device. This includes realization inone or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embeddedmicrocontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or otherprogrammable devices or processing circuitry, along with internal and/orexternal memory. This may also, or instead, include one or moreapplication specific integrated circuits, programmable gate arrays,programmable array logic components, or any other device or devices thatmay be configured to process electronic signals. It will further beappreciated that a realization of the processes or devices describedabove may include computer-executable code created using a structuredprogramming language such as C, an object oriented programming languagesuch as C++, or any other high-level or low-level programming language(including assembly languages, hardware description languages, anddatabase programming languages and technologies) that may be stored,compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well asheterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, orcombinations of different hardware and software. In another aspect, themethods may be embodied in systems that perform the steps thereof, andmay be distributed across devices in a number of ways. At the same time,processing may be distributed across devices such as the various systemsdescribed above, or all of the functionality may be integrated into adedicated, standalone device or other hardware. In another aspect, meansfor performing the steps associated with the processes described abovemay include any of the hardware and/or software described above. Allsuch permutations and combinations are intended to fall within the scopeof the present disclosure.

Embodiments disclosed herein may include computer program productscomprising computer-executable code or computer-usable code that, whenexecuting on one or more computing devices, performs any and/or all ofthe steps thereof. The code may be stored in a non-transitory fashion ina computer memory, which may be a memory from which the program executes(such as random access memory associated with a processor), or a storagedevice such as a disk drive, flash memory or any other optical,electromagnetic, magnetic, infrared or other device or combination ofdevices. In another aspect, any of the systems and methods describedabove may be embodied in any suitable transmission or propagation mediumcarrying computer-executable code and/or any inputs or outputs fromsame.

It will be appreciated that the devices, systems, and methods describedabove are set forth by way of example and not of limitation. Absent anexplicit indication to the contrary, the disclosed steps may bemodified, supplemented, omitted, and/or re-ordered without departingfrom the scope of this disclosure. Numerous variations, additions,omissions, and other modifications will be apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art. In addition, the order or presentation of method stepsin the description and drawings above is not intended to require thisorder of performing the recited steps unless a particular order isexpressly required or otherwise clear from the context.

The method steps of the implementations described herein are intended toinclude any suitable method of causing such method steps to beperformed, consistent with the patentability of the following claims,unless a different meaning is expressly provided or otherwise clear fromthe context. So for example performing the step of X includes anysuitable method for causing another party such as a remote user, aremote processing resource (e.g., a server or cloud computer) or amachine to perform the step of X. Similarly, performing steps X, Y and Zmay include any method of directing or controlling any combination ofsuch other individuals or resources to perform steps X, Y and Z toobtain the benefit of such steps. Thus method steps of theimplementations described herein are intended to include any suitablemethod of causing one or more other parties or entities to perform thesteps, consistent with the patentability of the following claims, unlessa different meaning is expressly provided or otherwise clear from thecontext. Such parties or entities need not be under the direction orcontrol of any other party or entity, and need not be located within aparticular jurisdiction.

It should further be appreciated that the methods above are provided byway of example. Absent an explicit indication to the contrary, thedisclosed steps may be modified, supplemented, omitted, and/orre-ordered without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

It will be appreciated that the methods and systems described above areset forth by way of example and not of limitation. Numerous variations,additions, omissions, and other modifications will be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art. In addition, the order or presentation ofmethod steps in the description and drawings above is not intended torequire this order of performing the recited steps unless a particularorder is expressly required or otherwise clear from the context. Thus,while particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications in form and details may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of this disclosure and are intended to form apart of the invention as defined by the following claims, which are tobe interpreted in the broadest sense allowable by law.

What is claimed is:
 1. A networked appliance for mixing and delivery ofa carbonated beverage to a user, comprising: a communications facilityfor connecting the appliance to a remote host system; a sweetenercooling system for containing at least one type of liquid formsweetener; a gas handling system for accepting CO2 cartridges; a flavorhandling system; and a water system, wherein at least one of thesweetener cooling system, the gas handling system, the flavor handlingsystem, and the water system includes at least one sensor adapted todeliver sensed information via the communications facility to the remotehost.
 2. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the gas handling system isadapted to accept CO2 cartridges that are sized below one hundred grams.3. The appliance of claim 1, wherein at least one sensor senses aremaining level of at least one of a sweetener, a flavor, and a gas. 4.The appliance of claim 1, wherein at least one sensor senses a lowpressure condition of gas of a cartridge of a gas handling system. 5.The appliance of claim 1, wherein at least one sensor senses a lowliquid condition of a flavor unit of the flavoring system.
 6. Theappliance of claim 1, wherein at least one sensor senses an indicator oftampering.
 7. The appliance of claim 1, wherein at least one sensorsenses an indicator of the absence of tampering.
 8. The appliance ofclaim 1, wherein at least one sensor senses a liquid level in at leastone of the sweetener cooling system and the flavor handling system. 9.The appliance of claim 1, further comprising disposing the flavorhandling system in proximity to the cooling system to facilitate coolingof the flavoring.
 10. The appliance of claim 1, further comprising anice making system.
 11. The appliance of claim 1, further comprising auser interface by which a user may specify at least one of a desiredflavor, a desired level of sweetness, a desired temperature, and adesired type of sweetener.
 12. The appliance of claim 1, furthercomprising a mixing system for mixing sweetener, flavor, gas, and waterto produce a beverage.
 13. The appliance of claim 12, wherein the mixingsystem uses at least one sensor to sense at least one of a level, aflow, a pressure, and a temperature of at least one ingredient.
 14. Theappliance of claim 1, wherein the appliance is adapted to useuser-supplied ice to pre-chill at least one of water, syrup, andsweetener and subsequently adds the ice to a beverage.
 15. The applianceof claim 1, wherein the flavoring system comprises at least one of a podand a cartridge system.
 16. The appliance of claim 1, wherein theflavoring system is a volumetric syrup delivery system that is notdependent on viscosity.
 17. The appliance of claim 1, wherein theappliance is adapted to handle multiple serving flavoring units orsingle serving flavoring units.
 18. The appliance of claim 1, whereinthe appliance generates an ice bank to provide capacitive coolingcapability for at least one of a flavoring, a syrup, and water for abeverage.
 19. The appliance of claim 18, wherein the ice bank isgenerated using at least one of a thermoelectric cooling facility and avapor compression cooling facility.